Readers' letters - May 5

Regarding mental health issues, which seem to be prominent in the news at the present time, I would like to say living in flats these days in many cases is detrimental to people’s health.People can no longer see the difference between night and day. I have had to go on anti-depressants after many years of people using washing machines, general cleaning and kitchen noise, well into the early hours. Parties until 5.40am were frequent at one time in the flat above me.Children running about in the top flats can be heard two floors below, anytime day or night. Ear plugs do not work. A lack of good quality sleep is harming to general health.I have been told not to use the vacuum cleaner at 9am by a very angry young man, the same man said I was too sensitive to noise which was taking place most of the night.At the TA meetings, anti-social noise is always at the top of the agenda. Tenants need to be educated about unacceptable behaviour. It has been proven sleeping at night rather than the day is beneficial to good mental health.A Mvia email

Could you spare a few hours?Wigan and Leigh Hospice is a local charity which relies on dedicated volunteers to help us care for over 1,100 patients every year. Without them, we simply couldn’t continue to deliver all of the services we provide throughout the borough.However, we urgently need more volunteers to step in now and spare a few hours of their time. One area which particularly needs new volunteers is in our 13 shops across the borough. We currently have to raise over £3m every year so we can continue to support local people with life-limiting illnesses and those people close to our patients. Our shops are a vital source of income for the hospice and are run entirely by volunteers.If you can spare a few hours on a regular basis to volunteer in one of our shops or in one of the other volunteer positions available from the hospice, please get in touch with our HR & Volunteers team on 01942 525566, email: [email protected] or see our website – www.wlh.org.uk to find out more.Anna HartRetail ManagerWigan and Leigh HospiceA fair day’s work

Recently a politician suggested that teachers should be made to work ‘normal hours’ – basically 48 weeks from 9 to 5 so they wouldn’t have massive holidays and be home before peak traffic.Like many political ideas, they seem reasonable until someone in the industry looks at it. As a practitioner, I know that it’s not possible to do all the work, especially correction during the day. From the parent point of view, there would be no after school sport, musical concerts, school camps or parent teacher nights.However, this being said, I am sure all teachers would be happy if this was possible. It would greatly reduce their working hours, although also probably the level of classroom preparation and thus the quality of the lessons presented.It’s a good thing this logic is not applied to all occupations. Imagine what would happen if police went home at 5pm or hospital emergency rooms shut down then.Dennis Fitzgeraldvia emailSell off the Crown JewelsI have come up with a good idea that will see every UK resident with a nice increase in their bank balance. Sell the Crown Jewels to the highest bidder. Instead of them being locked away, we could all benefit. Offers over £100bn to start it off. Any offers?EB Warrisvia email

Calling timeRe: Inability to tell the time. How embarrassing, I would have been ashamed if my child couldn’t tell the time with an analogue time piece. Whatever happened to time teaching clocks or watches, or drawing hands on paper clock faces?Sonia White via email